Chris Kirkland

So you want to get the most out of Tokyo on a budget? Well you are in safe hands.

Being of British roots Chris has a natural instinct for being a complete cheap arse and spending as little money as possible. Add to this, his favourite chat up line is "Can you buy me a drink" (which has actually worked on a number of occassions) and if that wasn't enough already, he run's another blog called hoboceo.com - a true cheapo!

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All posts by Chris Kirkland

So with great fanfare and cheer we are proud to present to you today our list of the Top Cheap Supermarkets in Tokyo. The list is compiled from an exhaustive and rigorous list of criteria which were debated for hours (well a few minutes of […]

Download Podcast A controversial topic amongst cheapos, where is the best place to live in Tokyo? Following on from our two posts on the topic, Chris and Greg dig into the details of the top ten cheapo neighbourhoods in Tokyo, along with some […]

Be sure to see our comprehensive list of Tokyo Drop in coworking spaces Being a businessman or woman in no way precludes one from being a cheapo! In this episode Chris and Greg dig into the details of working from a cafe or coworking space and […]

Download Podcast This week we catch up with Ben Yu, an intrepid cheapo who recently came to Tokyo on holiday and decided to make Manboo internet cafe his hotel of choice. And along with the usual banter, Chris and Greg dig a little deeper into […]

Let's face it if you're a cheapo that doesn't like sushi then you're in the wrong city. No where in the world is sushi so good, so fresh, so cheap and so correctly pronounced than in Tokyo and Japan. So I have no shame in publishing yet another […]

Download Podcast This week wandering the streets checking out the shops, restaurants and cafes of Shimokitazawa Greg and Chris are out and about once again. Like a pair of true cheapos they don't buy anything but they do give a nice summary what […]

Download Podcast Crouched together Al Fresco style, clutching a can of lager and a carton of pretentious Sweedish smooth, Chris and Greg broadcast to you episode #7 of the Tokyo Cheapo podcast! In this issue we drill into the cheapo […]

Download Podcast As the snow finally melts and sandstorms blow away, spring is making it's much anticipated return to Japan. In this episode we return with shorter format: Top Cheapo Eats, Cheapo Calendar and the feature for this week is Hanami […]

Download Podcast Infamous cheapo Greg, and notorious cheapo Chris are back with a summary of the most popular articles of 2012, Sugamo - Harajuku for Grandmas and some bakery tips. The first podcast of 2013, with some useful tips on short term […]

Download Podcast Chris Kirkland is join this week by a mystery guest, who gives 3 suggestions for value oriented Christmas dates in Tokyo. Plus the usual local cheapo news, supermarkets pizza and a round up of what's been happening on Tokyo […]

Download Podcast Greg and Chris share with you some deeper insights into the gargantuan article101 Free or Cheap things to do in Tokyo. Check out the Sony Building (before they go bust =:O) Get a lifetime does of "Gyaru" culture in one building […]

Download Podcast Greg and Chris are back this week with a mini featurette on cheap supermarkets in the Tokyo area, plus a round up of content on TokyoCheapo.com over the last two weeks. Access the feed below on your mobile device or search for […]

Hawken a fellow Brit is one of my oldest and closest techie friends from Tokyo. When I was but a newbie, fresh faced and naive to Tokyo, he took me under his wing and showed me much of what I now know about Tokyo after dark and into the early […]

A fellow lover of the outdoors and nature with rather an enthusiastic interest in fungi, Eringi is one of my most eccentric and fun friends from Tokyo. Being a fluent English speaker and well traveled, Eringi has picked up along the way a handy […]

Tony and I know each other from school, and quite randomly we both ended up living in Tokyo. Having mastered Japanese, being a professional journalist, photographer and all round rather clever chap, out of all the (non-Japanese) I met in Tokyo, […]

Although Doutor describes itself succinctly with the phrase "Gourmet Coffee Shop", we at Tokyo Cheapo think it should change this to "Shit average* coffee, but a very cheap and great place for hot dogs, matcha latte, hot chocolate and some of […]

We've recently covered some of Tokyo's cheapest supermarkets but we have some more gems to share with you still. Donki or Don Quijote (as written on their website) is more than just a supermarket, rather a super cheapo version of a Tokyu […]

Westerners who have eaten at one of the many noodle eateries throughout Japan will no doubt be familiar with the local custom of noisy slurping. I personally love this little gem of cultural difference, it's always fascinating to see a custom […]

As I mentioned last time, being a cheapo in no way means settling for inferior quality. So today I'd like to share with you a real gem I found in Shibuya a few years back. As the gourmet's amongst will know, when eating pasta, fresh is really […]

Being a cheapo is not merely about paying the least possible - I like to think that it's not paying any more than necessary for what one wants. With this sentiment, the Italian chain in Tokyo, Segafredo is a contender for the discerning Cheapo's […]

Tokyo is a city almost completely devoid of green, an in particular lush green grass. Where there is grass of any quality in Tokyo, it tends to be surrounded by a fence with 立ち入り禁止 (keep out) written on it, or a ticket barrier demanding an […]

As a general rule supermarkets in Tokyo aren't particularly cheap, in fact with many of the major stores focusing on quality rather than low price they can actually be pretty pricey. We've talked about picking up bargains at the end of […]

I'd been living in Japan for a number of years before I paid my first visit to Saizeriya and how I wish I'd found it sooner! Tokyo is a great place for budget Japanese food, but never in my wildest cheapo dreams would I have supposed that the […]

We've mentioned Yamaya before (cheap fruit juice), and no doubt we'll be mentioning it again, because Yamaya is a Tokyo Cheapo's destination of choice. Particularly if you are from the 'west', you'll appreciate the prices on a good selection of […]

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